Tune into enough productivity podcasters, making it easy to believe that a nap is a secret weapon: rather than a band-aid after a bad night’s sleep, but a path to improved recall, improved mood and maybe a faster 5k run time. Professional athletes swear by it – and so are professional piano players, fighters and business leaders. But if you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that permits frequent naps, is it *truly* enough benefits to a short sleep to justify the kerfuffle? Can you find a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to really guarantee you will arise feeling improved, not worse?
Identifying Your Drive to Snooze
“Experts note three key drivers for taking a nap in the adult population,” explains a leading circadian rhythm researcher. “One is termed recovery napping, which is what happens following insufficient sleep overnight. Another is prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting insufficient sleep coming up, for instance when working overnight shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which essentially comes down to wanting: you get an opportunity to doze in the daytime, and it feels nice to nap.”
The primary task to do, then, is to examine your reason for napping. “Daytime sleep can be really helpful when nighttime sleep is being disrupted for reasons you cannot change – for example, if you’re a new parent, or recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” states a sleep expert. “Yet when you’re napping as your nighttime sleep is unstable or broken, that can be a sign your need for sleep is not at the level it needs to be. In such situations, naps can become a contributing factor, rather than the answer. Use napping for brief periods for temporary issues – the priority should still be a strong and predictable night’s sleep.”
The Ideal Nap Duration
Therefore that naps shouldn’t be long enough to disrupt your overnight rest, and preferably should not occur after about 3pm (based on what time you sleep in the evening). What's a reasonable length? Guidelines are mixed. From the most-cited studies about napping, researchers at Nasa found that crew members showed improvements of over 50% in vigilance plus a 34% rise in cognitive performance post a 26-minute snooze (technically, this counted an initial six-minute sleep onset time). “I’d suggest using an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes – the majority fall asleep within 10 minutes,” explains a specialist. “There is plenty of recommendations about the perfect length for sleeping, however, that can make people feel more anxious than anything – and the worst thing you can possibly do when attempting to get to sleep is to stress over it.”
If you plan to nap for a longer period, bypass the 45-60 minute window that encourages that sluggish feeling, that foggy state when you wake. “Research would say it's more effective to take a longer nap of 60 to 90 minutes compared to a medium-length nap,” says the expert. “Forty-five minutes is long enough to put you into deep sleep making it more likely to feel disoriented upon awakening – however, if you take it a little longer to a full sleep cycle, you will probably to finish a natural sleep cycle and will probably awaken feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for an hour and a half, it can influence the quality of your sleep that night.”
Finding an Ideal Nap Environment
As for exact methodologies, recommendations vary. A few professionals propose using the same protocol one would use to promote quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a comfortable bed and maximum darkness as possible. Alternatively, experts propose that one could just doze on a couch in whatever light is available – to prevent sleep inertia and to maintain your sleeping quarters as the environment your brain links with proper sleep. “Napping is quite challenging to command,” says an expert. “Without the urge to sleep, it is more challenging to lie down and practically command yourself to fall asleep. There’s got to be a natural inclination available to start the process in the first place. For me, it's possible to nap in broad daylight and naturally wake up alarm-free, though, what aids many individuals is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally slightly tired and calmly ease into sleep.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if you have few options – for instance, when aiming to squeeze in some shut-eye on a train or in a soundproof office pod – there’s nothing wrong to employ a few tools. “When I’m working with elite athletes, I suggest that they not rely on sleeping in their bed, because they’re going to have|they will